Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the complementary digital copy of The Strange Case of Jane O. I was very excited to snag this advance copy, because I am a Karen Thompson Walker completionist. Having now read all three of her novels, I would say this one was slightly different than the first two with a more ambiguous sci-fi/speculative aspects, but still riveting stuff.

As a new mother seeks the help of a psychiatrist when she experiences a series of unexplained blackouts, hallucinations, and a powerful sense of foreboding, it becomes increasingly mysterious as to what might be happening when she “disappears” from her life. That the novel is told from the psychiatrist’s perspective was engrossing as I, the reader, was trying to figure out what was happening alongside him. Walker apparently used actual case notes from the neurologist Oliver Sacks, who I’ve always meant to read and have now put ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat’ on my TBR. How reality for some people can seem stranger than fiction is fascinating. There are also chapters written from the woman’s own perspective, but in the form of letters to her child in case something happens to her, which added to the unsettling and mysterious tone.

I will say, if you are not a fan of ambiguity and concrete explanations, especially with endings, this might be a frustrating read. I found it compelling and thought provoking reading, as I love this genre of literary fiction with just a tinge of sci-fi/speculative fiction. When asked about choosing this genre for her novels, Walker said in an interview with Lit Hub,  “There is a pleasure in being reminded that we don’t yet know all there is to know about the universe—much less about one another.” YES.